From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The National Assembly and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) appear to be on a collision course over the January 31 deadline for the phase out of the old naira notes.
CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele had announced in October that the existing N200, N500, and N1,000 notes would cease to be legal tenders on January 31 as they would be replaced with newly designed notes.
However, the launch of the new notes has come with some challenges bordering on availability in banks and ATMs across the country with some Nigerians calling for an extension of the deadline.
At yesterday’s plenary, both the Senate and House of Representatives in their resolutions, demanded extension of the deadline by CBN for the withdrawal of the old notes.
The Senate, specifically asked the CBN to extend the policy to July 31. It also urged the CBN to open an exchange window where people that do not have bank accounts to deposit their old notes could do so.
The senate’s resolutions followed a motion by Sadiq Suleiman.Suleiman recalled that the Senate in its resolution on December 28, urged the CBN to extend the use of the old notes from January 31 to June 30.
He noted that the apex bank, had however, insisted on terminating the use of the old naira notes by end of January.
Suleiman lamented that there was insufficient new naira notes in circulation and as such, moved that the date should be extended to July 31.
“Experiences around the world have shown that such abrupt decision if not controlled usually create chaos. The Senate should extend the use of the old notes to July 31,” he said.
Supporting the motion, Senator Ibrahim Hadejia said the call for extension was for their constituents and not for their (lawmakers) personal benefits. “In my constituency, no Automated Teller Machine (ATM) is dispensing the new notes.”
Similarly, Senanor Adamu Aliero said the the policy would inflict untold hardship on people living in the rural areas, just as Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa said the extension was necessary otherwise there would be chaos.
Senator Biodun Olujimi, who decried that in her local government area, about 90 per cent of the people have not seen a glimpse of the new naira notes, called on the apex bank to look away from the elections. She said if the date was not extended, it would lead to collateral damage which would not augur well for the economy.
Sam Egwuho was the only senator who opposed the motion as he said: “Nigerians do not have the culture of keeping their money in the bank. It is in Nigeria where cash is used arbitrarily; other countries use electronic means. Nigerians are just averse to change.”
In his remarks, Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, said most of the senatorial districts did not have banks.
He said: “In rural Nigeria, there are no banks and people transact businesses with cash more often. There is no doubt that we must have window for exchange. We must have policies by the CBN to have bank branches established in rural areas. We need this extension for the most ordinary Nigerians.”
At the House of Representatives, the resolution for the shift in deadline came with a summon for the management of the CBN and Chief Executive Officers ( CEOs) of commercial banks in the country to meet with it today. The lawmakers also called on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene on the insistence of the apex bank to stick to the January 31 deadline.
Sada Soli, in his motion, expressed concern that the CBN was insisting on January 31 deadline despite entreaties by the National Assembly, state governors amongst others. He argued that the country could get to a situation where businesses would be rejecting the old notes, even when the new ones were not readily available.
“Banks and POS (Point of Sale) outlets are struggling with shortage of the redesigned new naira notes ahead of the CBN deadline of January 31, 2023, consequently making it difficult for them to comply with the CBN directives as regards availability of the new notes for customers.
“Despite several concerns and appeals by the National Assembly, the Governors Forum, the Bank Customers Association of Nigeria, and a host of other stakeholders in the country for the CBN to extend the period for the currency swap of the new Naira notes as well as review of the cashless policy, the CBN has remained adamant on the given deadline.”
He expressed worry that “as a result of the rigidity in the implementation of the policy, there is a tendency of decline in the economy if cash withdrawals are delayed due to short supply of the new naira notes.”
He said in order for the policy to be successful and acceptable, the CBN should keep their relationship closer to reality, rather than theorised assumptions. The lawmaker said in global best practices, currencies are phased out, not forced out, and that adequate time was required for such policy by citizens.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, said as good as the policy was, the modus operandi and timing were the problem. He said the currency should be phased out gradually, such that Nigerians would use the old and new naira together.
The House, however, called for a six-month extension of the deadline to make the new notes available and that President Muhammadu Buhari should intervene on the debacle in the interest of Nigerians.
The House also set up an ad-hoc committee, led by Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, to meet with bank operators today.
•No going back
Godwin Emefiele has, however, told those seeking an extension that the date was sacrosanct.
“Unfortunately, I don’t have good news for them. My apologies. We can’t shift the deadline. Just like Mr President has said in some occasions, 90 days is enough for people to get their money into the bank. We ensured the banks extended banking hours and opened on Saturdays to accept the old notes. But they did not see the rush. Only the same normal deposits. So, no need for a shift,” he said at the first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting for 2023, in Abuja, yesterday,
On scarcity of the new naira, Emefiele said the CBN has been holding meetings with banks every week to address the challenge.
“We saw that the banks were paying the new notes to their close customers and we stopped it and said, feed it to the ATMs. It has worked. At initial stages, they were seeing old notes, and after a week, we said only new notes should be in ATMs and we increased the volume of new notes. We told the banks that we want to have zero old notes in your vaults by February 1. There is adequate new notes available. Our mint is producing and we are supplying.
“In 2015, there was N1.42 trillion currency in circulation and $3.2 trillion in 2022. More than double. N2.7 trillion of that is outside the banks. People are keeping vaults in their homes. They can’t be banks in their homes. We can’t allow that. They should release it back to the CBN. Ransom and kidnapping are reducing. I could be wrong. We have N1.5 trillion back in banks and perhaps this week, we hope to get N2trillion in. Just bring it, no one will harass you. We’ve begged EFCC and ICPC to let us do our job. And nothing will happen to you. I promise you that on my honour,” he said.